They wanted to join the WTO so that their exports wouldn't be subject to high tariffs and other barriers.
The issue is that there were no
> Chinese strategic efforts to locate our industrial production there
There was a Chinese policy of encouraging foreign investment, but that's not a strategic plan to remove another country's industrial capacity, which is how OP framed it.
No need to put 'nefarious' in there, or 'plot' even, but it was a goal. If not, then why did they want to join the WTO so badly?